Shadowed
by sashsweetie
Summary: T'Pol has been abused and is worried it will happen again... (That summary sucks, sorry...)
1. Fallen

"Lights go out and I can't be saved,  
Tides that I tried to swim against,  
You've put me down upon my knees,  
Oh I beg, I beg and plead..." -- Coldplay - Clocks  


* * *

  


Captain Archer watched in horror and anger as two guards half-dragged T'Pol down the corridor and shoved her roughly into the cell. Pale and

dirty, she swayed, barely conscious, and her eyes met with his and filled with relief before she collapsed, too weak to stand any longer.  
  
"What did you do to her?!" Archer yelled after the guard, as he moved forward and crouched beside T'Pol. The guard just walked away. The  


other residents of the cell looked on in detached interest, as though this was a normal occurrence - which it probably was.   
  


Carefully Archer picked T'Pol up and carried her back to the corner of the cell that he had occupied for the four days he had been there. Laying 

her down, he removed the warm cloak that was part of his outfit and wrapped her in it: she was shivering violently in the cold air. "T'Pol? Can you  


hear me?" he asked her quietly, brushing aside the long, dark pieces of hair extension that stuck to her face, and feeling a flash of anger as he  


discovered the huge, hand shaped bruise stood out starkly on her abnormally pale skin. She nodded slightly, giving him a sign that she was at  


least conscious. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up at him.  
  
"Is there any water?" she requested shakily.  
  
"Yes." He reached to his belt and removed the water-skin that he kept his water ration in. After helping T'Pol slowly into a sitting position, he  


held the water to her lips as she sipped slowly. When she had finished, he helped her lie back down before he asked gently, "What did they do to  


you?"  
  
"I was injected with a substance which made me lose consciousness. When I regained it, I was in a room with no light, strapped to a table so that  


I couldn't move. Sometimes the guards would come to me, abuse me...." she trailed off, staring blankly ahead. Suddenly she looked up at him,   


intense fear and pain filling her voice. "Don't let them take me again."  
  
He laid a hand lightly on her shoulder. "I promise I won't."  
  
"LIGHTS OUT!" came a yell from down the hallway, then the lights turned off.  
  
  
As the darkness hit, three days of abuse and lack of meditation overcame T'Pol, and fear flooded her uncontrollably. She reached her hand up  


to where Archer's was on her shoulder and gripped it tightly. "They take you in the darkness." she said, her voice shaking. "I don't want to go  


back. I want to get out of this place" Sitting up beside him, she gripped his hand even more tightly. "Don't leave me alone."  


  
"I won't let them take you." Archer told her, reaching his arm out and putting it around her shoulders. He was disconcerted by the dramatic change  


in his usually stoic science officer. Gradually T'Pol began to relax her grip on his hand.   
  
"I know." she whispered.   
  


  



	2. I Wish

"you are pulled from the wreckage  
of your silent reverie  
you're in the arms of the angel  
may you find some comfort here" – Angel (Sarah McLachlan)

Two nights later, Captain Archer sat with his back to the bars, and his arms wrapped gently around T'Pol - she had finally fallen asleep,  


something which she hadn't had much of since their arrest. Yawning and leaning his head back onto the bars, he silently pleaded with his mind to  


stop thinking and let him sleep too. Most of his time was spent awake with T'Pol, and he was tired. 

 He wished that there had been some word from Enterprise. He knew that staying in the jail was making it impossible for T'Pol to recover at all  


from the abuse she had suffered in the hands of the guards. Seeing their faces every day was making her become more and more fearful - she was  


now afraid of being left alone for even a moment. She had been unable to meditate, not being able to reach the state of calm that was required, and  


her emotions were overwhelming her - she didn't know how to cope with them. He knew that being back on Enterprise, in a familiar and friendly  


environment would make it easier for her. 

 Archer was sure it would not be long before Trip got them out. In fact, he was sure that Trip was working right now trying to strike a bargain  


with the Shaharan government for their release. The Shaharan's had caught them trying to sneak into a secret facility that they believed contained  


parts being put towards building a second prototype of the Xindi weapon. He knew it would be difficult to explain what they had been doing, in the  


dead of night, disguised as local folk, and attempting to break into a secret government facility, but he hoped that Trip would be able to buy the  


Shaharan's off.

Sighing, he opened his eyes and carefully pulled his left hand from where it had lost all feeling under T'Pols head to stroke her hair gently.  


As much as he tried to deny it to himself, he knew he cared for her deeply - more than he had cared for anyone else before. Slowly he took his  


hand from where it rested on her head and tucked a stray piece of hair back behind her delicately pointed ear. Then he closed his eyes again  


and turned his mind to thoughts of hope for escape from the horrible cell...

  



	3. For You

"I'm there for you, no matter what  
I'm there for you, never giving up  
You know it's true...  
You were there for me...and I'm there for you"   
-- For You (The Calling)  
  
  


* * *

  
T'Pol lay curled, tears silently streaming down her cheeks as she lay alone in her quarters. It had only been a few hours since she had arrived  
  
back on Enterprise, and already being by herself had become too much for her to handle. She didn't know how to push aside these infinitely   
  
powerful emotions - she hadn't known, before this experience, that she was even capable of feeling this acutely. She felt like she was drowning   
  
in a torrent of fear and hatred - and she didn't know how to fight the current. She didn't know how to cope with the emotions she was so used to   
  
hiding and eliminating, but was now unable to escape.   
  
  
After a few more moments of thinking, she climbed from her bed and made her way to where her candle and the other items she required from   
  
meditation sat. She thought that perhaps having them would make the emptying of her mind possible so that she could regain a degree of   
  
control. Quietly she struck a match and lit the candle before settling herself and altering her breathing to the deep, slow breaths that calmed her.   
  
Gazing into the blue centre of the candle, she slowly began trying to empty her mind of thoughts, and found that although it was easier than in the   
  
jail, certain thoughts would still not drift away from her. Taking a deep breath, she focused entirely on the candle, letting the flickering blue and   
  
yellow fill her vision and her mind. She began to feel like she was floating, gently, on an ocean of water...Her vision began to darken, the   
  
yellow disappearing and the blue darkening until it turned to black...   
  
  
...Then she was falling through the darkness, falling into a dark consciousness. She was strapped to a table, unable to move. "No..." she   
  
whispered desperately as the guard came into her field of vision "No..." A single tear coursed slowly down her cheek, leaving a glistening trail on   
  
her dirty skin. She closed her eyes as the guard climbed on top of her, trying to close off her mind from her body, trying to protect herself against   
  
what was happening to her. She began to shriek as he entered her, hoping against hope that someone would rescue her.   
  
"There's nobody to hear you scream" the guard slapped her roughly across the face. T'Pol continued to scream as she fell back into the   
  
darkness...  
  


* * *

  
Captain Archer made his way down the corridor towards T'Pol's quarters. He had said he would pick her up on his way to the Captain's Mess  
  
for dinner, as she hadn't wanted to go alone. He was greatly looking forward to his first proper meal in almost eight days. As he came near to  
  
T'Pol's quarters, he began to hear a high pitched noise. Coming to stand outside her quarters, he realized it was T'Pol, screaming inside.  
  
Immediately he pushed the buzzer, to alert her to his presence. "T'Pol!" he called. "Let me in!"   
  
  
No-one opened the door. Pausing for only a moment, he punched in the Captain's override code and opened the door.   
  
  
On the floor lay T'Pol, curled up and screaming at the top of her lungs, her eyes squeezed shut. "T'Pol!" Captain Archer shouted over the sound   
  
of her screams, crouching down beside her and putting a hand to her cheek. "T'Pol wake up!"  
  
  
Her eyes flew open and her shrieks turned to sobs as she recognized him. Gently he reached down and pulled her into his arms. "Shhhhh...." he   
  
whispered into her hair, continuing the rocking action, trying to calm her. "It's ok, its over now."   
  
  
She clung to him desperately. "I can't do it." she sobbed. "I can't meditate. I can't get away from it."   
  
  
"You'll be able to eventually." he told her "But it will take time to come to terms with what they've done to you."  
  
  
"He raped me." she whispered bleakly. "I couldn't stop him..." The tears still ran slowly down her cheeks as she buried her face into his shirt.  
  
Archer didn't know what to say, he just wrapped his arms more tightly around her, silently swearing to do everything in his power to help her...  



End file.
